Reader
by xfirefly9x
Summary: River. The crew decide to test River's psychic abilities. What will they find out? And more importantly, what will River discover?
1. Pulled Under

**A/N: **I decided to rewrite a lot of this fic. It's a lot more detailed than the first version -almost completely different actually, so let me know what you think please!

Reader 

Secrets rushed through River's mind with the force of a speeding bullet. She knew everything that passed through everyone's thoughts, she heard what was said before a word had even been spoken and she was even able to _feel_ what they felt – their love, their hate and their passions.

She knew all of their deepest secrets and she hated it.

It came to her in waves, drowning her in memories and emotions that weren't her own. She was constantly being pulled under, fighting to stay alive in a world where she could feel everything. She wasn't doing well at all.

That was the weakened state that Simon had found River in when he had rescued her from the Alliance. River had suffered countless anxiety attacks and her mental health had been steadily deteriorating.

Simon had done his best to relieve River of her pain, yet she was still prisoner to the Alliance because of who she was. Or rather, what she was.

The Alliance had made River theirs. They had played with her brain and changed the way she saw the 'verse. They had made it so she would never be the same again. They had broken her apart and put her back together different.

River was no longer just River. She was a weapon.


	2. Moonbrain!

River glided gracefully into the mess towards Jayne and silently positioned herself behind him. The mercenary sat oblivious to her at the bench, polishing his most prized possession: an impressive-looking gun that he had named 'Vera'.

He wore a brown, sleeveless shirt with the Chinese characters for 'Blue Sun' written across the front. It was perhaps, the shirt that River disliked the most and a glint of hatred flashed through the girls' eye momentarily before instantaneously disappearing as if it had never been there.

River herself was wearing a red dress with an off-white shawl draped over her shoulders. The dress flowed around her small frame as she moved and gave off an air of elegance in its most raw form. In her left hand, she carried a heavy silver knife although the expression on her face showed no sign that she knew of its existence. In fact, she seemed oblivious to it.

Smiling softly at Jayne's unawareness, River, dreamlike, lifted the knife in the air. Just as she was about to bring it down, footsteps sounded in the hall alerting her to another presence and she let the weapon fall. It clattered loudly onto the floor, startling Jayne out of his quieter state.

"What the guay -?" He jumped from his seat, turning in time to see the edges of Rivers' dress disappear into the hall. "Moonbrained girl!" Jayne cussed loudly and bent over to retrieve the knife. "More trouble than she's gorram worth!" Muttering to himself, Jayne slammed the knife down onto the bench, picked up Vera and his polishing cloth and stomped towards his bunk.

In the hall, Wash jumped aside alarmed as River hurtled past him in a flurry of brown and red. He shook his head once, coming to the conclusion that she was either having another one of her episodes – lately her lucid moments were few and far between – or she was doing better and playing with Kaylee again.

Just as Wash had gathered his thoughts and taken another step towards the mess, Jayne barged through, pushing him to the side angrily.

"Hey! Watch it!" Wash shouted at the mercenary's retreating back. He pulled himself off the wall and rubbed at his side where he was, no doubt, going to bruise. "Ow!"

Wash continued on down the hall, cautiously watching out for more potential crashes. Making it to the mess with no further incident, he dropped into the first chair he came to, grateful that it had only been River and Jayne. If there had been anyone else, he'd be needing the doctor!


	3. It's Hurting Her

Minutes later, River arrived in the engine room to find Kaylee bent over a complicated-looking box full of wires. Unlike earlier with Jayne, she announced her presence, grinning playfully as she spoke.

"With wood it becomes dust. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." River paused to peer over Kaylee's shoulder at the wires. "Cheese and pinecones," she added thoughtfully.

Kaylee swung around at River's last words, an expression on her face that was somewhere between pure shock and amusement. "River, you scared me!" She turned back to the engine for a moment and rearranged a few parts before turning back to the girl worriedly.

"Do you want me to go get Simon?" She questioned.

River smiled innocently at her and shook her head, knowingly. "He's coming." Her words lingered in the air and Kaylee, unsure of what to say or do, turned back to Serenity's purring engine.

River watched her curiously and focused all of her being into learning how the ship worked and what Kaylee did to help her. Serenity was after all, alive in a sense and like all living things she had certain requirements to keep flying. River wanted to know everything.

Leaning in close to the engine, River caressed it with one hand. She stroked it absentmindedly and whispered to it, like she had when she had lain on Tracey's coffin some time ago.

Serenity hummed softly to River and told her what was wrong. Flashes of images entered River's mind and her eyes glazed over as she learnt. Finally understanding the extent of the problem and how to fix it, River leaned over and pointed at a red wire.

"It's wrong. It's making her sick." River murmured to Kaylee. Kaylee glanced over at her not seeing her point at the wire.

"Yep, there's definitely somethin' broke, here. Just gotta work out what it is…" she smiled at River, only a twinge of shock remaining from her sudden appearance earlier.

"There," River instructed her. Kaylee finally noticed that River was pointing at something and followed her finger to the red wire that she'd been indicating.

"River?" Kaylee asked, uncertainly. "Is that what's broke?"

River nodded. "It's hurting her."

Kaylee shifted position so that she was facing the red wire. She reached down and fumbled with the cabling, finding the plug that ended it to be loose. Pushing the plug back into its socket so it remained there firmly, Kaylee pulled herself up and flipped a series of switches on another circuit board.

Serenity's engine flickered back to life.


	4. Everything's Shiny

**A/N: A new chapter finally! It's kindof short, but it's something. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for the reviews and I hope you like!**

"How did you –?" Kaylee stared at River incredulously, her mouth hanging open slightly with shock and something resembling fear. She felt somewhat like she had when River had shot those three men on Arial with her eyes closed.

"She told me," River explained smiling, not understanding just how much terror her actions had bestowed upon the mechanic, despite her intuitive nature. She grinned at Kaylee and turned to look towards the door, where seconds later, Simon appeared.

As always, the doctor was dressed neatly in his best clothes and not a hair was out of place. An outsider would never guess that he was a part of Serenity's crew.

"River," Simon started, not noticing Kaylee at first. "Can you come with me, please?"

"Medicine?" River asked flatly, already knowing what his intentions were. Taking her meds had become a ritualistic part of her everyday life and she had become accustomed to it. She didn't need to be psychic to guess what he had come to her for.

"Yes," he said, nodding sombrely. Glancing around the engine room, he finally saw the young mechanic, still staring up at his sister with a spanner held loosely in one hand. "Oh, Kaylee. Hi," he greeted her. Noticing her expression, he eyed her curiously. "Is everything alright?"

Kaylee nodded dumbly and forced a smile onto her face, fingering the spanner nervously and turning it over and over in her hands. "Yup, everything's shiny."

"Good, good," he muttered, not really paying attention. At the moment, his one concern was his sister. It always was. "I've got to give River some shots. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Sure," Kaylee replied. She watched as Simon led his sister out of the engine room, his hand resting gently on her back. River turned around to look at her before they moved out of sight and Kaylee swallowed uneasily to rid her throat of the lump of fear that had taken up residence there.


End file.
